The signs aren't subliminal, not any more. They're right out there in full view, loud and boisterous, and that's probably the way Mark Davis (and Jerry Jones) sort of intended this all to be.

Along with getting some intense two-team work, the Raiders' trip to Southern California to practice with the Cowboys has revved up some other issues, just in time for the Raiders' millionth consecutive frustrated season playing at the antiquated Coliseum, currently on a lease that expires at the end of this season.

OK, maybe the Raiders haven't been frustrated for a million years, but it does seem that way, probably to the Davis family especially.

So...

There was an overflow crowd in Oxnard yesterday for the first of several practice sessions pitting the Raiders against the Cowboys, and the crowd was heavily skewed to the Silver & Black side, by all reports.

The crowd even got involved when an on-field brawl moved towards the sidelines, which is a fairly disturbing situation even if it was cleared up quickly.

Lots of energy. Lots of noise. Lots of questions for the Raiders' future.

Could this all be indications that the Raiders are overtly getting ready to strongly consider moving back to Los Angeles? Hard to ignore the tell-tale actions and comments here.

Reminder: Oxnard is the Cowboys' training camp site, not the Raiders, and still, it was the Raiders who brought the big L.A. personalities, the most fans, and the frenzy.

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Also, Hollywood power player Michael Ovitz, who apparently has a plan to build a stadium in L.A. for an NFL team that already has Dallas owner Jerry Jones' enthusiastic support.

It's fair to point out that the Raiders' situation has already led to many false starts -- hey, San Antonio! -- that may or may not have actual connection to what Mark Davis is truly planning or seeking for this franchise.

He's going to go through a lot of hints and teases and discussions in this process, and, as I've written, he HAS TO do it this way to find the best deal and, if possible, get Oakland to finally figure out once and for all if it can build him a new Coliseum.

Davis can't get a new stadium until and unless he shakes up the process repeatedly, and the trip to San Antonio and now the Oxnard rowdiness are all part of the 2014 shake-up.

And still ... Los Angeles has been and remains the most likely eventual destination for the Raiders.

Not San Antonio, not Portland, not anywhere else. Not Oakland or Concord or Walnut Creek or sharing the stadium in Santa Clara.

Los Angeles. Where the money is, where Mark Davis has always spent a lot of time, where there is a tangible Raiders fan base, but where there is no new stadium, yet.

No doubt, Davis continues to say that his first choice still is to build in Oakland, but that project hasn't moved forward very much over the last year or so.

Which leads to the current climate of Raiders intrigue, and it's a genuine one.

CBS' Jason La Canfora brings up the long-assumed thought that the NFL would prefer not to have a member of the Davis family control the L.A. market -- after Al Davis came and left once already -- and that does offer some complications.

But L.A. becomes a lot simpler if Mark Davis realizes that's where the best deal is and that he tried his best in Oakland and it probably won't happen.

Also, Southern California works for the Raiders if there is a clean path to setting up a billionaire to buy into the Raiders and take control in phases.

That's the way Steve Bisciotti eventually took over the Baltimore Ravens in his deal with Art Modell (when Modell moved the Browns out of Cleveland) and the way Stan Kroenke assumed control of the St. Louis Rams in his deal with Georgia Frontiere (when Frontiere moved the Rams out of Orange County).

Mark Davis has always said he has no intention of turning the Raiders over to anybody else, but if it's the path to landing a gleaming new stadium -- and if the Davis family can hold onto a minority interest in perpetuity -- then you'd have to think that's better than slamming his head against the Oakland wall year after year.

These are the signs. That doesn't mean the Raiders are absolutely moving to L.A., it just means that Mark Davis is beginning to signal that there are good reasons to do this and he's waiting to see good reasons for him to do any other thing.